Two New Books!

I am very excited about 2 new books that I received today.  The author is someone who's blog I have been reading for the past year, at least, and has been such an influential and inspiring person to me.  Sally Clarkson, from I Take Joy has written several books on motherhood, homeschooling, and parenting.  Check out her blog here!  I hope you will love her and find her to be just as inspirational as I have. 

So, today I start reading, The Mission of Motherhood- Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity.  Yeah!  So excited!  I will actually be participating in an online book club and linking up with Like a Warm Cup of Coffee blog.  You can join and find out about this book club here.  I will keep you posted and let you know how great this book is!  I am confident it will be!  The other book is The Ministry of Motherhood- Following Christ's Example in Reaching the Hearts of Our Children. I am so looking forward to reading them both.  After all, isn't reaching the hearts of our children one of the most important things we can do as mothers? 

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Darn, I Failed Today

I have had better days.  Today just did not start out right.  It is now 1:10 pm and my hair is still wet from a late shower and my makeup is not on, I have 2 loads of laundry on my bed, one in the washer, and one in the dryer. This pregnancy and these contractions have REALLY slowed me down.  It is hard to manuever and I am uncomfortable most of the time.  Do you see what I mean?  I am having one of those days...a pity party.  I know that my 3 year old son, who happens to be very bright, has caught on to my mood and I'm sure my snippy attitude has not gone unnoticed.  He started to cry late this morning.  It broke my heart because I knew exactly why.  He could not understand who this woman in his house was.  I proceeded to ask him what was wrong, and he just cried out..."I...love...you".  It brought me to tears as well.  I hugged him and told him how sorry I was for being impatient and short and thanked him for loving me.  It was eye-opening for me and quite shameful. 
This is not who God has called me to be and I knew I had failed.  My attitude just stunk and it all started because I thought that my husband's business travels were going to keep him away for one extra day than I expected.  "How would I manage to get anything done at this pace, and what about poor Matthew (my son) who is probably tired of his mother not being able to bend, stand for too long, play on the floor, etc...?"  I just wanted to be weak and get angry at God and my husband for having me in a predicament that I thought was too much to bare.  I repented.  I am sorry Lord for having a pity party and not being strong.  Things could be so much worse.  Truly, things could be so much worse! 
I have been studying Proverbs 31 for a few years now and continually pray that God would help me to be more like the Proverbs31 woman.  She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.  She is gentle and kind.  She probably would have been more supportive of her husband when he announced that he would be away on business longer than he thought.  She would have understood that, he too, must be tired.  There have been times when I feel as if I have truly made progress and then, there are days like today.  I was faced with a choice to choose joy and remain strong, but out of anger and frustration, I chose to throw away all the knowledge I had gained about being a mother and wife and failed and now feel terrible for allowing my son to see my impatience and frustration.  I am so thankful that God is a forgiving God and gives us so many chances.  He is still working on my heart, and most certainly, always will be. 
My son's tears melted away the bitterness that set up camp around my heart this morning.  Thank you Lord, for such a treasure.  Thank you Lord for your grace.  Mothers are so blessed to have these loving little angels to remind us how much God loves us and how much we should strive to be the mothers that He has called us to be. 
Please stop by "A wise woman builds her home" today and read June's latest post on Female Piety.
Click  here.  She always has some great wisdom to share! 
Have a GREAT rest of the day!

Waiting...

So I have quickly come to the realization that this baby girl growing in my belly is not the least bit concerned with my level of comfort and, in fact, she prefers that I stay in positions that make it impossible to fall asleep.  I am now sleeping in a recliner, next to the bed, and not even in a reclining position.  Oh no, baby girl prefers that I am sitting upright in the "recliner" with my legs propped up, pillow behind my back.  If I dare lean or recline, I immediately begin to have contractions.  Oh, it has been a fun few months and I still have about 2 months to go. 

I started having braxton hicks contractions at about 20 weeks and they have continued since.  I have one when I wake up in the morning, when I bend, when I sit back, when I stand too long, when I get off the car, when I am eating, when I am done eating, when I sit on the floor, when I sit on a hard chair, you get the point.  But my doctor has advised me that if they are not coming in any type of pattern, such as 6 in an hour for more than an hour, then I am NOT in labor!

So I wait, patiently and remain grateful that all looks well.  Despite the contractions and levels of discomfort, I am still carrying a baby girl with a heart that beats, that hiccups, kicks, and continues to grow!  Those things. alone, are a blessing.  We are eager to meet her and I am especially eager for her to be wiggling outside of my belly, not in.  :)

Peace and Love to you today.

Jenna

Great Post on Discipline and a Giveaway!

A quick post to invite you to read a blog that I frequently go to for encouragement.  I Take Joy is not only encouraging but also uplifting and inspiring.  Plus, if you visit Sallly's blog today, you could be entered into a drawing for one of their many books!  Go here to enter!

Change Is A-Comin'

Have I mentioned my son, Matthew?  He is an energetic, fun, loving, three year old who has this awesome ability to make me smile.  He can make me smile even when I am so exhausted that I don't think I have any smiles left...he can bring them out in me.  Love, love, love, him!  I would never dare say he is perfect, because that would be a complete lie, but even his imperfections, and there are several, sometimes just make me crack up.  (Of course, they sometimes make me down-right mad).  But I feel so thankful for him today.  It was like God just knew what personality best suits me and my husband, and said "here you go, a gift from Me".  Isn't God great?  He always knows just what we need well before we ever have any clue that we need anything different at all.  It is this knowledge of my God and saviour that gives me complete peace about our upcoming birth.  We are expecting.  Did you know this?   Yep, we are expecting a baby girl in September.  I am about 29 weeks pregnant and not feeling so hot.  This pregnancy has been so different from my first.  It has been exhausting, uncomfortable, and has really slowed me down.  This baby girl moves so much that I sometimes wonder if there are 2 little ones duking it out in my belly.  Who and what is she punching at (other than my bladder)???  Amazing!  Matthew didn't move nearly half as much as this little girl. 

So, of course, the thought crosses my mind.  Does this mean that she is going to be trouble once out of the womb?  I have been told that you get one great child and then one challenging child.  Is this true, I begin to wonder?  Could this be my challenging child doing cartwheels in my belly?  And just how challenging is she?  Then, I realize these are not the type of thoughts that I should be thinking about her.  Even now, in my womb, I can encourage her and send her loving thoughts and let her know that she was made just for this family!  Not by accident, but completely by design...God's design.  Just as he sent us Matthew, whom we love and cannot imagine life without, He will send us exactly what we need.  Sure, there will be new challenges, just as there were with Matthew, and we will be stretched once again; forced to do things outside of our comfort zone, but that is all a part of God's plan for us.  If I am ever to be the woman that God desires me to be, if I am ever to grow and mature in my relationship with Christ, to become the wife and mother I hope to be, I must be stretched and pulled and molded.  A work that I am sure is never-ending!  That excites me!  I look forward to the changes ahead and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us.